Notes: Episode 169, "The Cursed Mirror! Mamoru is Caught in a Nightmare" (Or, "The one where Nehellenia takes Mamoru.")

Episode 169

"Wow."

"I know."

"Wow."

"There ARE a lot of them."

"WOW."

Mamoru glared at Minako and pushed his way into his apartment Yes, okay, there were mirrors in the living room. Several mirrors. Several HUNDRED mirrors. But it couldn't be that bad everywhere. The apartment wasn't that big, a fact of which Mamoru was painfully aware. Surely he—

Usagi opened his bedroom door.

Somehow, Minako managed to get another "WOW" out around all the laughter. Mamoru tried to not look, but given that he was surrounded on all sides by mirrors, he couldn't miss how she was only remaining upright by clinging desperately to Makoto.

"I feel like there should be a word for this kind of condition," Rei said at his shoulder. She had her hands on her hips and was looking around the room with clear amusement. There were dozens of her at all angles, making sure he didn't miss one single moment of her delight at his expense. Mamoru shot her a wounded look. Et tu, Rei?

"Narcissism, perhaps," Ami mused, stepping over a small river of mirrors that wound its way across the floor. "Mamoru-san does occasionally have a—" She caught his reflected eye. "Uh, some of them are very tasteful." Ami stroked the frame of the nearest mirror and tried to look anywhere but at Mamoru. It was a difficult prospect, but she somehow managed it.

"And you probably helped some sales associate make commissions for like the next year," Mako added encouragingly. "So there's that."

"They have to go."

Usagi's voice cut through the teasing and the aggravation at the teasing.

"I just keep seeing you staring in them and I'm trying to reach you but I can't and …"

She wasn't crying, but the pain was raw and evident, and it sobered everyone in the room.

Instantly, Mamoru was at her side. He put his arm around her and she folded into him. Her cuts and gashes from the thorns were healing, but he could still see every one. There, in his arms, the center of his apartment, he could see her torn and bloody into infinity.

"Of course," Mako said gently.

"Every last mirror," Rei vowed, then she hardened her gaze at Mamoru. "Every single one is out of here." It wasn't a question.

Minako grinned and winked at Usagi. "We've all seen how he dresses, so it's not like he ever really used mirrors anyway, right?" Mamoru was going to glare again, but Usagi giggled, and that was really all that mattered.

Ami wandered the room, taking in the scope of the task ahead of them. "The question is, what do we do with them?"

They all lapsed into deep thought.

"Who do we know with enough room for a thousand mirrors?" Mako wondered.

"Who's vain enough to even want that many?" said Rei.

"You could set up a dance studio," Minako thought aloud. "Or performances. Rehearsals to get just the right—"

It occurred to them all at the same time.

Mamoru was already picking up the phone. "Who has Haruka's number?"

After accidentally writing a second for 168, I was getting 169 done today one way or another. The result is whatever I could churn out in half an hour. This is that something. Apologies, if you feel apologies are needed.